31 Bad reality

Apophis and Antanria left the hospital.

Deciding that it would be a good opportunity for them to get to know each other better, Apophis led her on a walk for a good hour around the city.

Thankfully, things had returned to a fairly peaceful state, and there was no danger of random players attacking people, since this was considered to be damaging the rightful property of Gold is Good, the guild which controlled the city.

Eventually, though, they came across two city guards from Gold is Good.

The guards approached Apophis and Antanria, noticing that they looked like father and daughter because of Apophis's Zetark-Human biology.

At first, the guards thought that Apophis and Antanria were NPCs. They were very surprised when one of them consulted Apophis's system information and realized who he was!

The lower-level player recognized Apophis by name—after all, he'd become one of Horus's first celebrities—and eagerly asked him for advice on progressing through the game quickly.

Apophis gave some advice about exploring the wilderness and seeking out rare quests, rather than simply killing NPCs and monsters. The exchange ended well, and the guards even parted with the words, "Enjoy our city, and have a nice day!"

Antanria was surprised by this whole exchange, even though she couldn't understand the words of the guards. "Tell me, why did those soldiers show you such respect?"

"They're the same kind of people as me," said Apophis. "The Tyottings call us the 'Eternals' because every time we die, we come back to life. I'm quite famous among the Eternals." Of course, this was a massive simplification.

Apophis and Antanria then visited the biggest shopping mall in Omeya. Most of the stores were closed because of the total collapse of the planet's economy, but he finally found a clothing store that was still open.

Antanria had asked for clothing that better suited a royal heir, since all she possessed was the jumpsuit she'd worn in the stasis pod, so Apophis accompanied her. Unsurprisingly, the store was empty of customers, and the manager was almost surprised to see anyone at all.

Since the prices were currently at rock-bottom because of the political crisis, Apophis took the opportunity to buy several elegant dresses for Antanria. This made her quite happy, and her mood improved now that she felt more like her old self and was out in the fresh air.

Before leaving the mall, they passed a still-functioning ice cream shop. Antanria, surprised, asked what the strange food was that the shop was selling.

"It's a wonderful, sweet dessert!" Apophis replied.

The Zetark princess looked at him with a deep expression and beautiful red-purple eyes. She was still a little girl, after all, with simple desires. At that moment, she looked like any human child, except for her beautiful, alien features, such as her Zetark-white hair.

Apophis quickly realized the best thing to do was to buy two ice creams, which they ate in a nearby park. Despite himself, Apophis enjoyed this moment with the girl he'd saved. Though the local situation wasn't exactly enjoyable for the NPCs, Gold is Good had created a fairly stable peace, and it allowed Apophis and Antanria to relax for a while.

They continued to walk around the city for several hours, observing the scenery, until they came upon a strange gathering that immediately made Apophis's instincts tell him something violent was about to happen.

There were about a hundred people—mostly NPCs, it seemed—around a raised stage. In the center stood three players and one Tyotting, who had been forced to his knees.

One player on the stage spoke up. "Well, you Tyotting, it's truly too bad that you misunderstood your obligations. You'll have to pay up right now for the protection that our guild grants you!"

He turned to the crowd. "Dear residents of Omeya! This kneeling person is four days late in paying his protection tax! The glorious guild leaders have no choice but to sentence him to death!"

Antanria stared intently at this display. As a princess, her ordinary life was very far from that of the common people.

The spokesman on the stage pulled a gun from his pocket and ordered Tyotting to open his mouth.

Apophis frowned at the disgusting gracelessness of what was about to happen. He put one hand on Antanria's shoulder and covered her eyes with his other. "Don't look," he said firmly.

The player shoved his revolver into the Tyotting's mouth and squeezed the trigger.

Boom!

A deafening silence of several seconds fell after the shot.

It was only broken when the executioner shouted with joy, "Fuck yeah! I hit LvL 5!" His face and guild uniform were covered with blood, and a piece of brain fell off his face.

The players on the scene congratulated their friend for his level up, completely oblivious to the blood and gore covering all of them.

The Tyotting NPCs, of course, couldn't believe what they'd just seen.

It was a vision of horror, a display of horrific violence made infinitely worse by the explosion of joy from the executioner

Despite caring little for the individual lives of NPCs who he knew from his first life would soon die anyway, Apophis was disgusted by this display of depraved enthusiasm.

The 21st century was a terrible time, as humanity was forced by climate change to take refuge in huge domed cities. Life under these domes meant great inequality and violence as the richest 1% left to live on Mars and the Moon, leaving the so-called "worms" to live on the corpse of their abandoned planet.

The mental health of the average human declined significantly, and mental health professionals made it known that both psychopathy and sociopathy had become far more common in the generations who grew up in this new environment.

In fact, Apophis knew that some players only played Horus because of its incredibly realistic violence, as a way to torture and slaughter with no real-world consequences.

Such moral weakness disgusted him. It was one thing to kill NPCs for a utilitarian purpose—even if only to teach others a lesson. He could understand the purpose of a public execution from a guild to show NPCs that they needed to pay their racketeering fees.

But such a thing should be done professionally! To defeat an enemy was glorious, and to make an example of an NPC was sometimes necessary. 

But there was never any reason to show such joy at slaughtering a helpless person, even an NPC. That was simply disgusting.

After witnessing this scene of horror, Apophis accompanied Antanria to a hotel and rented the very best suite available.

It was time to rest. The day had been long for both of them, and Apophis had played for almost forty-eight hours without pause.

He put Antanria to bed, then disconnected.